Eleven die after drinking Turkish bootleg liquor

Eleven people have died after drinking bootleg liquor since March, Turkish officials said today. They included three German students.

The Ministry of Agriculture, which controls alcohol sales, said authorities have been inspecting distributors since the first death on March 21 from drinking liquor containing methyl alcohol.

The German students, aged between 17 and 21, consumed the poisonous alcohol in the Mediterranean resort town of Kemer while on a class trip to Turkey.

One died in Turkey while two others suffered irreversible brain damage and died later while being treated in Germany.

It is the second such tragedy in four years in Turkey.

In 2005, three Turks were sentenced to eight years in prison for distributing bootleg liquor after more than 20 people died.